1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a hanging chair, and more particularly to a hanging chair which may be used as a suspended seat, hanging from a permanently fixed support or from a movable support. The invention may alternatively be used for a swing, for children or for adults.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The art of hanging chairs and swings has been around for more than a century and there is a significant variety of designs and arrangements for hanging chairs and swings. The following prior art represents a chronology as well as what is believed to be the closest prior art to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 490,287, issued to F. J. House and F. X. Martin in 1893 describes a hammock which is made of a series of lateral crosspieces which are interwoven by outside wires which form loops.
U.S. Pat. No. 790,292 issued to M. W. Yeager in 1905 shows a suspended chair or swing which has lateral crosspieces which are attached to a flat piece of metal stock or bar. Fastening is achieved by bolting or otherwise permanently and rigidly fastening the slats or lateral crosspieces to the metal bars or straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,500,338 issued in 1924 to F. W. Shuman describes a suspended seat which includes lateral crossmembers with spacers therebetween and a flexible rod passing therethrough. The rod is bolted at both ends to hold the pieces together and a separate arm piece has eyehooks to which the suspension means is attached. Contrary to the present invention, this invention does not utilize the suspension means as the connection means for holding the slats together.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,048,110 issued to W. H. Fry, in 1936, describes a suspended seat or swing utilizing lateral crosspieces which are nailed to a main frame. The main frame includes a rod which passes from the main frame from arms of the chair which are subsequently attached to suspension chains.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,524 issued in 1980 describes a rocking chair which has non structural support means which are blocks having a plurality of orifices through which rope is threaded back and forth so as to support the blocks. The rocking chair is not suspended and the ropes are not used to maintain lateral crosspieces nor are the ropes used for suspension.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,086 issued to Lelong in 1974 describes an elaborate figure eight swing which includes as shown in FIG. 2 a series of looped ropes to maintain tubular members in a lateral configuration. However, these ropes do not pass through orifices in the lateral crosspieces nor are they used for the suspension system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,622 issued to Simpson in 1981 describes a hanging chair wherein a series of lateral crossmembers are connected with spaces by means of a rope or cord looped therethrough. However, there are spacers which extend at right angles to the crosspieces and at the opposite ends of these spacers, suspension means is passed through. In other words, the rope which maintains the lateral crosspieces together is not the rope which is used for suspension, nor is there direct suspension from the orifices in the lateral crosspieces upwardly.
Not withstanding the above prior art, there is no teaching or suggestion that a suspended chair or swing could be achieved by using a single alignment or rope or cord to both hold lateral crosspieces in place and to suspend them for hanging.